North Philadelphia Healthscape Field Report

Forty million Americans without health insurance and rising, is one message proponents of universal healthcare use to plead their case. There's just a few questions I would ask anyone in favor of this proposal. Is universal healthcare enough to improve the overall health to members of disadvantaged neighborhoods? Is it enough to improve the overall quality of health of residents in this North Philadelphia community surrounding Temple University. Students have access to health care services an campus, but where do non-Temple residents go? Is their environment helping or hindering their general health? As eluded to, observation is a key in answering some of these questions, ant least in part.

Diet, Physical Activity, Air quality, Water quality, Hygiene, Disease Prevention, Education, and Health Facilities are just a few determining factors, when looking at the Healthscape of a neighborhood. Once again I took a walk and made observations walking from 12th and Broad Street up to 20th Street. It is easy to observe the dividing line after you've crossed 12th Street. Between 12th and 14th Street you see an array of buildings operating under Temple University. Located here are many different shops and Temple's Recreation Center, which are located on relatively clean streets.

Upon reaching 15th Street you start to come across abandon open spaces. You're presented with lots that have been converted into green space, while others have become deteriorated and fill with trash. Lots filled with garbage can contain all kinds of bacteria as well as used needles. This is dangerous, since they are target play areas for children. Open areas converted into green spaces need additional investment from public and/or private funds, if they want to be well maintained. On 16th Street there was a closed down doctor, which can only be a hindrance on the neighborhood as a whole. The irony is on that same street as you look and see a yellow liquor store on the corner.

There are of optimism on 17th Street in the form of the Women's Christian Alliance/ Family & Children Services Center. Along with the APCS Charter School it founded on 18th Street, alliance have the opportunity to spread good health messages contributing to overall community health. This neighborhood is without any large supermarket with an extensive variety of food choices. Small variety store line the streets in the area. Its likely that many of these stores don't carry the most healthiest of foods, but carry alot a quick foods with fats and sugars.

As I headed back to Temple from 20th Street I realized how far many of the neighborhood residents travel to get proper healthcare. Many go to Temple University Hospital and other facilities to seek care. It made me see how lucky I am. Health Facilities on campus are available for me and other students if we get sick.

I began to look for the connection between the three themes of my field reports in this Philadelphia neighborhood. It took awhile, but the wheels in my brain began to turn and connections appeared alot clearer. My theory is that lack industry and commerce allow for gentrification to occur in economically depressed neighborhoods. As industry leaves and jobs close people that are able to afford it leave the neighborhood as well. The flight of jobs and commerce leave a lagging neighborhood to seek out financial attention. This situation leads the way for easier investment into the community by other interest groups, while the residents can't tell if this will hurt or help them in the long run. Without industry and commerce its likely that the neighborhoods health will go downhill as well. It ties into the lack of investment from public/private funds into healthcare clinics, cleaning up trash lots, improving dangerous sidewalks, and just lack of interest.

Pictures located above Women Christian Alliance Center (left) & Local Variety Store (right). Pictures below Converted lot into a greenspace (left) & Neighborhood Beer Store (right).


Pictures taken by: Labaron Palmer

North Philadelphia Gentrification Field Report

Gentrification can be a puzzling concept when, you're thinking about its true meaning. The process tends to place you into two groups. The first group consist of those who believe the building of new structures in established neighborhoods will simply, push the poorer residents out of their homes. In the second group you have people that believe new construction projects, help neighborhoods rise economically. Thus, this will improve the lives of the native residents in the long run. I'm not at liberty to tell you the right answer, but both sides of the issue have their strong points. In a city like Philadelphia walking down the street could provide you with examples of gentrification, which are created through both public and private investment.

Heading towards Girard Avenue, I walked down 13th St. to look for signs of private and public investment. As I referred to in my "Community Description" blog entry this North Philadelphia neighborhood has gone through changes in recent years. As I walked down 13th Street away from campus, I saw that this area was very nice and well kept. I also observed several older residents tended to their porches and catching some fresh air. My first encounter with private investment occurred at 13th and Masters. "Taken applications now" was scrolled across the new elderly home development . As you'll find out later this new development is a portion of a trend I caught on to.

As I reached Girard Avenue from 13th Street I observed money from the city government being put to good use. Workers in orange vest followed behind a large steam roller paving the street with fresh tar. Brand new Girard Avenue flags decorated each lighting post. Across the avenue stood the office of a Philadelphia congressman, helping to further display the importance of this transportation hub.

Turning off of Girard Avenue I began to walk down Broad Street. Stopping at Broad and Masters I came across a mural at William Penn High School. Now the first thought that ran through my mind was: "This must have been paid for with public funds", but I was wrong. As I looked closer I discovered the mural was sponsored by a mortgage company. Right there on Broad Street was an example of public and private interest working together to empower the students of the neighborhood. Directly across the street was the Blue Horizon with a new make-over and mural painted on its side.

On the next block heading north is the Human Services Center. All kinds of public and private companies had a presence here, from Clearvision to Channel 6 advertising to offer residents with tax advice. Across Broad Street you could see people visiting the North Broad Street Senior Center, which helped to envision the trend I eluded to earlier. This trend I refer to involves the numerous facilities dedicated to the "senior" residents of the community. I talked about the changing demographics of the neighborhood in an earlier post, but have I now observed it with a new angle. Not only are many of the native families leaving the, but the older residents looks as if they've chosen to stay. They probably feel more of an attachment to the area, and are less willing to relocate to somewhere new. So did private and public investment help this area? In my opinion I would say "Yes". Could my opinion be subjective simply due to my interpretation of initial observations? Definitely!

Pictures above: Girard Avenue (left) & Mural on William Penn High School (right). Pictures below: Human Services Center (left) & North Broad Senior Center (right)



Pictures Taken by: Labaron Palmer

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